Infant’s sale: Four including buyer arrested

Ahmedabad: Four women have been arrested in the case wherein a couple’s month-old daughter was allegedly sold by their former neighbour to recover a Rs 1 lakh loan. Vatva police inspector A A Vachheta said the neighbour, Vatva resident Jagruti Suthar, and two women who helped her — Krishna Kheradia, a resident of Vejalpur and Manjula Parmar, an Amraiwadi resident — have been arrested along with Nadiad resident Geeta Prajapati, who allegedly bought the infant.

Vachheta said this was not an organised crime but an isolated case where the accused was known to the complainant. Suthar was the couple’s neighbour when they lived in Hathijan. The 19-year-old mother filed a complaint with Vatva police on Saturday night accusing Suthar of taking the child on the pretext of playing, and later selling it. Suthar had allegedly begun pressuring the couple to repay the loan soon after the girl’s birth on June 3.

Suthar proposed that the couple hand over the infant in exchange of waiving the loan, and offered to pay them Rs 2 lakh, saying the child would be raised by a well-to-do family. The mother claimed she rejected the offer. The couple continued visiting Suthar for meals since the complainant was still recuperating from a C-section, and unable to manage household chores. Around 10 days before the complaint was filed, Suthar paid the couple a visit and took the baby, saying she would return her after a few hours. When the child was not returned until evening, the couple went to Suthar’s residence, and were allegedly told that their daughter had been sold off. Suthar allegedly refused to share details.